Stimulus talks are heating up ahead of the election
Stock futures are advancing this morning, moving higher on hopes of additional stimulus. On Saturday evening, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office announced she is giving President Donald Trump's administration 48 hours to reach an aid deal, while Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin agreed to speak again today. Ahead of the bell, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) up around 175 points, while S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) futures are higher, too. Still, the climb to 40 million coronavirus cases around the globe dampened some of this bullish sentiment, and one CNBC analysis of Johns Hopkins University Data showed cases are growing by 5% or more in 38 states as of Friday.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Founder and CEO Bernie Schaeffer paints a picture of the current sports betting landscape.
- The cannabis stock news investors should have on their radar.
- Plus, Halliburton bested Wall Street’s forecasts; one analysts is hot on this chocolate stock; and CVS announced a massive hiring plan.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.9 million call contracts traded on Friday, and 889,320 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.45 and the 21-day moving average slipped to 0.48.
- Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) reported fiscal third-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street's forecasts, though revenue fell short of estimates – impacted by lower oil prices from the pandemic. As a result, HAL is trading 0.7% higher ahead of the open, but is still down nearly 50% year-to-date.
- Citigroup initiated coverage on Hershey Co (NYSE:HSY) with a “buy” rating, citing the potential for future growth despite the toll the pandemic has taken on the company. Still, HSY is down 0.3% in pre-market trading, but up 2% 2020.
- The shares of CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS) are up 0.5% before the open, after the company announced plans to hire 15,000 employees, including more than 10,000 pharmacy technicians. The company is gearing up for a jump in coronavirus cases over the winter, and hopes to have enough employees to help with an eventual vaccine. Year-to-date, however, CVS is off roughly 19%.
- The week kicks off with the NAHB home builders' index and the Federal Budget for September. On the earnings docket will be IBM Inc (IBM), and Steel Dynamics (STLD).
China's Q3 GDP Missed Expectations, Brexit Negotiations Sink European Markets
Stocks in Asia were mostly higher after today’s session, with plenty of economic data for investors to sift through. The only loser, China’s Shanghai Composite, dropped 0.7%, after China’s third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth missed expectations, up 4.9% from last year. Retail sales in the country, meanwhile, rose 3.3% in September from a year earlier. Elsewhere in the region, the Nikkei tacked on 1.1%, though Japanese exports fell 4.9% year-over-year in September, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng picked up 0.6%, and the South Korean Kospi added 0.2%.
Markets are mostly lower over in Europe, with gains likely pared amid rocky and uncompromising Brexit negotiations between the European Union (EU) and Britain. London’s FTSE 100 is down 0.2% at last check, while the German DAX has dipped 0.1%. The only gainer so far, the French CAC 40, is up 0.3%.